Charles Anderson’s Crown Land Patents in Colonial Virginia

I hadn’t set out to research Charles Anderson, my seventh great‑grandfather, when I began working through my Anderson line. In fact, I didn’t even know his name until I’d spent a week researching the lives of his son, Parsons Anderson, and grandson, Brazier Cocke Anderson. But once Charles appeared in the records, his story pulled me in, and I found myself pivoting from Parsons and Brazier to him. What emerged was a portrait of a man who left an extensive document trail that included 11 Crown land patents spanning more than three decades. I’ll share more of Charles’ story later—a Virginia landholder who later ties into my Wilson/Lankford line in Greene County, Georgia—but this sketch focuses specifically on his Crown land patents.

Over more than 30 years, Charles received 11 Crown land patents, showing how steadily he built and expanded his place on the Southside Virginia frontier. His first known grant, dated September 16, 1740, put him on Stone Horse Creek in Amelia County among long‑established neighbors like Mickie, Syme, Black, and Brooks. A 1734 patent issued to Thomas Haynes—covering 3,312 acres—confirms that Charles already owned a surveyed tract by that time, because several of its boundary lines ran along his land. From there, his patents show a gradual spread west and south through the Appomattox, Buffalo, Roanoke, and Meherrin River regions as counties such as Goochland, Amelia, Lunenburg, and Prince Edward were taking shape. Goochland originally covered a large area; Amelia was formed from it in 1735, Lunenburg from Amelia in 1746, and Prince Edward from northern Lunenburg in 1754, so Charles’s land stayed in the same region even as the county names changed around him.

In 1743, Charles secured 400 acres in Goochland County on Dry Creek of the Appomattox River. In 1745, he added two more grants—one in Goochland County and one in Amelia County—totaling 530 acres near Green Creek and Dry Creek, both adjoining prominent families such as the Woodsons, Michauxs, and Davis. These mid‑1740s patents show him consolidating land in a region experiencing rapid survey activity and shifting county boundaries.

400-acre Crown land patent (1743)

His largest single grant came on June 25, 1747, when he received 3,122 acres in Amelia County on the branches of the Buffalo and Mayo Rivers—a massive tract that marked him as a substantial planter with the resources and labor to improve frontier acreage. That same year he added another 400 acres in Goochland County on Wallory’s Branch of the Appomattox River, continuing his foothold in the watershed.

By 1748, county lines had shifted, and Charles’ holdings appeared in newly formed Lunenburg County, where he received part of an 886 acre tract on Little Roanoke. Two years later, on August 16, 1750, he expanded again in Lunenburg County with 315 acres on Stanley Branch, a small creek that feeds into the Meherrin River—issued the same day as a patent to Francis Anderson, suggesting coordinated surveys and a clustered Anderson presence in the area.

In 1751, Charles secured two more tracts: 400 acres on the South Fork of Buffalo River in Amelia County, and 240 acres on both sides of a small creek in Lunenburg. These grants reinforced his long standing position in the Buffalo–Roanoke corridor and his continued engagement with familiar neighbors such as Richey, Bibb, Morton, Begger, Davis, Harvey, and Duggins.

His final and second largest patent, issued June 30, 1760, granted 1,420 acres in Amelia County between Bryery Creek and the Buffalo River, combining previously patented acreage with 400 acres of new land. This late grant demonstrates that Charles remained an active landholder into the 1760s, continuing to consolidate and expand his holdings across the same frontier zone where he had been present since at least the early 1740s.

It may seem unusual for one man to receive 11 Crown land patents, but in colonial Virginia this was normal for settlers who had the money, labor, and reliability to keep improving new tracts. Patents were not special awards—they were routine transactions. As long as a man paid the fees, met the improvement rules, and had the ability to manage more land, he could apply for as many grants as he could handle. Charles fits that pattern, which is why his patents stretch across more than 30 years.

Charles’ patents show a steady, capable man who built a long‑term presence on the Southside Virginia frontier. Starting with a surveyed tract noted in 1734 and continuing through more than 5,000 acres of Crown‑granted land, his record shows reliability, resources, and strong ties to the families who shaped Amelia, Goochland, Lunenburg, and later Prince Edward County as the boundaries changed. All of his grants were issued under King George II and required him to clear land and pay quit rents—a small yearly tax of one shilling per 50 acres—obligations he consistently met. Together, these patents create a clear picture of a man who played a meaningful role in settling and stabilizing this part of colonial Virginia.

References

• Land Patents Book 15, 1732-1735, State of Virginia: Virginia. Land Patents 1732–1735, images 479–481, FamilySearch.
• Land Patents Book 19, 1739-1741, State of Virginia: Virginia. Land Patents 1739–1741, images 227–228, FamilySearch.
• Land Patents Book 21, 1742-1743, State of Virginia: Virginia. Land Patents 1742–1743, image 158, FamilySearch.
• Land Patents Book 23, 1743-1745, State of Virginia: Virginia. Land Patents 1743–1745, images 519–521 and 525–529, FamilySearch.
• Land Patents Book 26, 1747-1748, State of Virginia: Virginia. Land Patents 1747–1748, images 91–92, FamilySearch.
• Land Patents Book 28, 1746-1749, State of Virginia: Virginia. Land Patents 1746–1749, image 147, FamilySearch.
• Land Patents Book 30, 1750-1752, State of Virginia: Virginia. Land Patents 1750–1752, image 452–456 and 461–462, FamilySearch.
• Land Patents Book 33, 1756-1761, State of Virginia: Virginia. Land Patents 1756–1761, images 319–320, FamilySearch.
• Land Patents Book 34, 1656-1762, State of Virginia: Virginia. Land Patents 1756–1762, image 99, FamilySearch.